An Ethical Framework
for
Clinician/Industry Interactions
Michael D. Jibson, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
University of Michigan
Author Disclosure
• Over the past 3 years, I have been on the speakers
bureaus of the following companies (in order of
compensation received):
• AstraZeneca
• BristolMyers Squibb
• Janssen Pharmaceutica
Pretest
1. Which of the following statements regarding the
pharmaceutical industry is true?
a. Drugs represent about 10% of healthcare costs
b. Less than 5% of total pharmaceutical costs are
expended on research and development
c. Drug costs have been stable over the past 10 years
d. Nearly 50% of drug sales are expended on sales and
drug promotion
e. Profit margins in the pharmaceutical industry tend to
be low
Pretest
2. Which of the following statements regarding FDA
regulations is true?
a. They govern physicians’ use of drugs
b. They prohibit physicians from accepting gifts of more
than $100 from industry
c. They prohibit “off label” promotion of drugs
d. They require disclosure of negative drug trials
e. They prohibit industry from sponsoring CME
programs
Pretest
3. Which of the following statements regarding AMA
guidelines is true?
a. They are binding on all AMA members
b. They prohibit physicians from accepting gifts of more
than $100 from industry
c. They prohibit “off label” prescription of drugs
d. They require disclosure of industry relationships to
patients
e. They prohibit industry from sponsoring CME
programs
Pretest
4. Empirical studies demonstrate which of the following?
a. Physicians are good judges of their own biases
b. Small gifts, such as pens, have minimal impact on
physicians’ prescribing practices
c. Most marketing materials are accurate and objective
d. Industry representatives are excellent sources of
objective information about medications
e. Sponsorship strongly predicts outcome in published
research studies
Pretest
5. Effective means to overcome self-serving bias include
which of the following?
a. Development of extensive clinical experience
b. Role-playing exercises
c. Disclosure of financial interests
d. Familiarity with peer-reviewed literature
e. Use of personal insight and self-awareness
Major Teaching Points
• Understand the role of the pharmaceutical industry in
medicine
• Become familiar with APA guidelines for physicianindustry contacts
• Be able to characterize the various types of interactions
between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry
• Recognize sources of bias and how to overcome them
• Discuss an ethical framework in which to evaluate
physician interactions with industry
Readings
• Lexchin J. Interactions between physicians and the
pharmaceutical industry: What does the literature say? Can
Med Assoc J 149:1401-07; 1993
• Rosner F. Pharmaceutical industry support for continuing
medical education programs: A review of current ethical
guidelines. Mt. Sinai J Med 62:427-63; 1995
• Wazana A. Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry: Is a
gift ever just a gift? JAMA 283:373-80; 2000
• Dubovsky S, Dubovsky A. Psychotropic drug prescriber’s
survival guide. Ethical mental health treatment in the age of
big pharma. WW Norton & Comp, New York, NY, 2007
Outline
• Background
• Economic issues in research, marketing and healthcare costs
• Reasons for interactions with industry
• Ethical framework
• Goals and practices of medicine and industry
• Types of interactions – contracts, marketing, gifts
• Factors in clinical decision-making
• Sources of bias
• Self-serving bias
Outline
• Practical applications
• AMA guidelines
• Other guidelines and regulations – FDA, ACCME, PhRMA
• Peer review
• Case scenarios
Clinician-Industry Interaction
Background
Economic Issues
Pharmaceutical Sales and Costs (2004)
• $243.8 billion total sales
• $38.8 billion (15.9% of total sales) spent on
research and development
• Drugs represent 10.7% of total US healthcare
costs
• Drug costs have risen at a rate of 10-15% per year
for the past 10 years
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
Economic Issues
Promotional Costs (2001)
• $15.7 billion = 12.9% of sales (PhRMA)
vs
• $27 billion = 22% of sales (www.nofreelunch.org)
Why the difference?
Unrestricted education grants are tax-deductible
charitable contributions, not promotion costs
Economic Issues
Are Medicines Too Expensive?
• Research and development costs are high
• A single lawsuit can be catastrophic
• Patent protection is time-limited
Economic Issues
Are Medicines Too Expensive?
but
• Pharmaceutical stocks are considered among the
most profitable and consistent investments
available
Economic Issues
Are Medicines Too Expensive?
but
• High profitability is essential for the maintenance
of an aggressive research and development
program
Why Do We Do It?
Contacts with industry are unavoidable
• Physician Desk Reference
• Prescription of proprietary drugs
• Sponsorship of professional meetings
• Advertisements in professional journals
• Response to academic activity
Why Do We Do It?
Contacts with industry are desirable
• Sponsorship of educational programs
• Sponsorship of professional organizations
• Sponsorship of research
• Notification of product availability
• Exposure to proprietary information
• Academic input into research and marketing
But...
Industry’s priorities differ from those of
clinical and academic medicine
Is it possible to benefit from industry contacts
without compromising the integrity of clinical
and academic medicine?
An Ethical Framework
Primary Aims
Clinical Medicine
Academic Medicine
Medical Industry
• Patient benefit
• Societal benefit
• Acquisition and
dissemination of
knowledge
• Financial gain
Positive Practices
Clinical Medicine
Academic Medicine
Medical Industry
• Patient treatment
• Physician-patient relationship
• Research
• Education
• Development of safe and
effective treatments
• Sponsorship of education
• Sponsorship of research
Negative Practices
Clinical Medicine
Academic Medicine
Medical Industry
•
•
•
•
Paternalism
Boundary violations
Incompetent practice
Financial concerns
• Career development
• Marketing bias in research
and education
• Excessive profits
Oversight
Clinical Medicine
Academic Medicine
Medical Industry
• Professional standards
• Moderate government
regulation
• Academic standards
• Minimal government
regulation
• Extensive government
regulation
Industry Interactions with Physicians
Contract Services
• Scientific advisory boards
• Marketing advisory boards
• Speakers bureaus
• Research design, participation, and publication
Industry Interactions with Physicians
Contract Services
• Promotional Talk - $1000-5000
• Grand Rounds - $500-5000
• District Advisory Meeting - $1000-2000
• National Advisory Meeting - $1000-5000
• APA Symposium - $3500
Industry Interactions with Physicians
Educational Programs
• Unrestricted education/research grants
• Industry-sponsored symposia
• Patient education materials
• Journal sponsorship
Industry Interactions with Physicians
Marketing Contacts
• Physician detailing
• Lunch/dinner meetings and presentations
• Advertisements
Marketing and Clinical Practice
Factors in clinical decision-making
• Evidence-based clinical data
• Clinical experience
• Nonclinical complicating factors (self-serving bias)
• financial reward
• academic interest
Marketing and Clinical Practice
Legitimate marketing factors
• Notification of availability
• Clinical trials data
• Cumulative experience data
• Cost effectiveness data
Marketing and Clinical Practice
Illegitimate marketing factors
• Personal relationship with physician
• Incentives to decision-makers
• Gifts
Confusion of Boundaries
Marketing contact
vs
Educational
program
Promotional literature
vs
Research literature
Contract service
vs
Gift
Major Dangers
• Clinical compromise
• Research bias
• Academic corruption
Clinical Compromise
• Inaccurate or biased information
• Biased clinical judgment
• Financial incentive
• Receipt of gifts
• Personal relationship with pharmaceutical
representative
Physician Bias
A substantial body of empirical studies shows that:
• Even small gifts influence physicians’ practices
• Physicians have poor insight into their own biases
• Marketing materials are highly biased
• Industry representatives vary widely in reliability
and expertise
Physician Bias
Self-serving Bias
• We tend to make judgments that serve our own
interests
• We believe these judgments to be objective and
balanced
• Disclosure is not sufficient to overcome this bias
(and may even make it worse)
Physician Bias
Self-serving Bias
• Effective remedies include
• Peer review
• Role playing (assuming the role of other
interested parties, such as patients, payors, or
competitors)
• Changing reward systems
Research Bias
• Sponsorship strongly predicts outcome in
industry-sponsored research
• Industry is not required to divulge all study results
• Research questions can be framed to favor a
specific outcome
• Data can be framed to accentuate specific
outcomes
Academic Corruption
• Selective input into research
• Research driven by financial incentive
• Education biased by financial incentive
• Industry support of favorable opinions
Clinician-Industry Interaction
Practical Applications
AMA Ethical Guidelines
• Any gift should benefit patients
• Gifts should be of minimal value and related to
the physician’s work
• No gifts should be accepted with strings attached
AMA Ethical Guidelines
• Support for legitimate conferences or meetings
(including faculty honoraria) is permissible
• Subsidies for individual physicians to attend
meetings are not permissible
• Scholarships for residents and fellows must be
assigned by the training program
Peer Review
• Publications, posters, and slide sets may be
reviewed by recognized experts in the field to
ensure that:
• Appropriate scientific methods were employed
• Defensible conclusions were reached
• Bias is avoided in reporting results
PhRMA Ethical Guidelines
• Dinner programs should be limited to a “modest”
meal, without guests
• CME programs should be planned and conducted
by academic and clinical centers
• Consultants must provide legitimate services for
reasonable fees
• Speakers’ training may include reimbursement for
time, travel, and expenses
PhRMA Ethical Guidelines
• Scholarships should be for major scientific and
clinical conferences, and should be awarded by the
sponsoring academic institution
• Gifts should be of modest value (<$100), and
should benefit the physician’s practice
• No gift, scholarship, or contract should
compromise the clinician or academician’s
independence of decision making
FDA Guidelines
• All marketing materials must be FDA approved,
and information shared during marketing contacts
may not exceed the boundaries of approved
packaging information
• Sponsored speakers may answer questions, but may
not initiate or perpetuate discussion of “off-label”
drug uses
FDA Guidelines
• Sponsored speakers may only discuss information
derived from accepted research methods or
recognized expert consensus opinion
• Research studies involving a competitor’s drug
must follow packaging guidelines for the drug
ACCME Guidelines for
CME Programs
• Potential or perceived conflicts of interest
regarding the topic of the presentation must be
disclosed
• Presentations must include specific learning
objectives
• The speaker’s qualifications must be appropriate to
the topic covered
What We Can Do
• Observe AMA Guidelines
• Be clear about the nature of our interactions with
industry
• Disclose everything
• Limit gifts and personal contacts
What We Can Do
• Use peer review and consultation to detect
diagnostic and therapeutic “drift”
• Be aware of sponsorship of research and
educational programs
• There is no substitute for constant attention to
personal integrity and professional rigor
Case Scenario 1
During a detail visit by a pharmaceutical
representative, a psychiatrist is congratulated on
being the top prescriber of the company’s product
in that area. In recognition of this, the psychiatrist
is given a gift certificate for dinner at a popular
restaurant.
• What APA guidelines apply to this situation?
• What ethical issues are involved?
Case Scenario 2
An academic psychiatrist with an interest in
antidepressant medications is offered $1000 to
speak at a symposium on treatment of depression.
• What ethical issues must be considered if
a. the symposium is sponsored by an unrestricted
education grant to the hosting institution?
b. the symposium is industry-sponsored?
Case Scenario 3
A psychiatrist is invited by a pharmaceutical
representative to hear a speaker at a popular
restaurant. Afterward, attendees are invited to a
performance of an award-winning stage
production.
• What APA guidelines apply to this situation?
• What ethical issues are involved?
Case Scenario 4
A psychiatrist is invited to participate in a
regional advisory board for a pharmaceutical
company. The meeting is for one day at a major
hotel in San Francisco. The psychiatrist will be
paid a $1000 honorarium for participation.
• What APA guidelines apply to this situation?
• What ethical issues are involved?
Case Scenario 5
A psychiatrist is invited to attend a CME
conference in Hawaii at the expense of a
pharmaceutical company. The meeting includes
two hours of workshops each morning for three
days.
• What APA guidelines apply to this situation?
• What ethical issues are involved?
Case Scenario 6
A psychiatrist attends a dinner talk on a new
antipsychotic medication with which he is
unfamiliar. The next day he prescribes the
medication for a newly diagnosed schizophrenic
patient.
• What ethical issues are involved?
• What legitimate marketing factors may be involved?
• What illegitimate factors may by involved?
Post-test
1. Which of the following statements regarding the
pharmaceutical industry is true?
a. Drugs represent about 10% of healthcare costs
b. Less than 5% of total pharmaceutical costs are
expended on research and development
c. Drug costs have been stable over the past 10 years
d. Nearly 50% of drug sales are expended on sales and
drug promotion
e. Profit margins in the pharmaceutical industry tend to
be low
Post-test
2. Which of the following statements regarding FDA
regulations is true?
a. They govern physicians’ use of drugs
b. They prohibit physicians from accepting gifts of more
than $100 from industry
c. They prohibit “off label” promotion of drugs
d. They require disclosure of negative drug trials
e. They prohibit industry from sponsoring CME
programs
Post-test
3. Which of the following statements regarding AMA
guidelines is true?
a. They are binding on all AMA members
b. They prohibit physicians from accepting gifts of more
than $100 from industry
c. They prohibit “off label” prescription of drugs
d. They require disclosure of industry relationships to
patients
e. They prohibit industry from sponsoring CME
programs
Post-test
4. Empirical studies demonstrate which of the following?
a. Physicians are good judges of their own biases
b. Small gifts, such as pens, have minimal impact on
physicians’ prescribing practices
c. Most marketing materials are accurate and objective
d. Industry representatives are excellent sources of
objective information about medications
e. Sponsorship strongly predicts outcome in published
research studies
Post-test
5. Effective means to overcome self-serving bias include
which of the following?
a. Development of extensive clinical experience
b. Role-playing exercises
c. Disclosure of financial interests
d. Familiarity with peer-reviewed literature
e. Use of personal insight and self-awareness
Pre- and Post-test Answers
1. a
2. c
3. b
4. e
5. b